Hello Indivisibles; It’s our Year 1 Anniversary!
—With regret, we have to CANCEL the New Member Welcome gathering that was scheduled for this evening at Kraemer and Kin. We look forward to seeing our new members again soon at other events.
—This message is from our amazing Postcard Team leader, Doug:
> In 2016 Hilary Clinton won the popular vote by almost 3 million votes (2.1%) but lost the Electoral College 306 to 232. Pennsylvania went for Trump by 1.2%, Wisconsin by 1% and Michigan by just .3%. These states accounted for 46 electoral votes. Had Hilary won these states she would have won the presidency 278 to 260 and the last decade would have been much different. Remembering this difficult to think about history shows how small numbers of votes in the right states (or districts) can have huge effects.
> Research proves that postcards increase Democratic turnout by 1.3% which would have won the states mentioned above. Trump would have lost and this long national (and now global) nightmare would not have happened. With this in mind and the Midterm Elections in sight it is time to prepare for the 2026 postcard campaign.
> To the 64 active writers who have written thousands of postcards in various campaigns around the country…Thank You and congratulations as Democrats continue to rack up wins all over the place.
> Indivisible Champlain Islands members have a great opportunity in 2026 to affect elections outside of Vermont.
> Kalshi prediction market gives Democrats an 83% chance of taking the House of Representatives. Remarkably they give a hard to believe 48% chance of taking the Senate claiming that Alaska, Ohio, North Carolina and Maine(Republican)are in play. However, Michigan and Georgia (Democrat) are vulnerable.
> The organization “Postcards to Swing States” creates and provides strategic postcards with effective messages strategically directed at swing states and districts. I take your request for how many cards you want, place a massive order and figure out a way to get them to you. You write the message, address the card, provide a postcard stamp (presently $.62) and mail.
> If you want to be part of defeating this existential threat to American Democracy, protecting the civil rights and civil liberties for all Americans-now and future-email me at .
> Thanks, Doug
—Celebrations: We had a lovely One Year Anniversary Celebration at Snow Farm Vineyard on Sunday afternoon. It was wonderful to be able to chat one-on-one with members and the hardworking Leadership Team. And, yes, there was cake! See picture below.
There is also cause for a huge celebration over the ousting of Viktor Orban in Hungary this past weekend!!! After 16 years of his authoritarian rule and corruption, The People of Hungary said, “Enough!” and voted him out. They came out in massive numbers – about 80% of the voting population voted – and it was a total rout. What happened in Hungary was the model for Project 2024 and the Trump power-grab. Control the media with propaganda, fearmonger against an imagined threat (in Hungary it was Ukraine, in US it is immigrants and DEI), subvert the courts, eliminate the democratic guardrails, control the military. He spent 16 years taking a sledgehammer to the foundations of the democracy, and stealing the wealth of that country, and The People still had the power to bring him down. So it is an inspiration for us. And it also gives hope to Ukraine, as Hungary was the one vote blocking $billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine from the EU. So Woohoo!!!
— Attacks on our Free Press continue. This weekend the President called several of the news outlets (CNN, NBC, ABC) “treasonous”. Why? Because they were reporting the truth about the War in Iran, and he does not want us to know the truth.
>Let me quote Heather Delaney Reese: “That is the playbook. Discredit the press. Delegitimize the press. And then dismantle the press. It is what Orban did in Hungary. It is what Putin did in Russia. It is what every authoritarian does before the lights go out on a free society”
>It is critical that we protect our Free Press. That is why it is in the First Amendment. There will be a March and Rally on Saturday, May 2 , from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, in Burlington : “March for World Press Freedom Day”. Meet at the top of Church Street. Add it to your calendar.
— Fourth of July – Well, this will be a BIG Celebration this year! 250 years ago our Founders said, “We Choose Freedom!” And this year, we will celebrate this milestone and declare all over again, “We Choose Freedom!”. Last year, Indivisible Champlain Islands participated in the South Hero 4th of July Parade and it was a great success! A good time was had by all. The best part was all of you Indivisibles walking beside our ‘float’ and talking with the crowd and handing out our cards. The response from the community was overwhelmingly positive. And a lot of new folks joined us after that. This year we again plan to be in the Parade in South Hero AND we would also like to be in the Parade in Alburgh! Would you like to help plan this year’s entries? Would you like to march in the Parade with lots of other Indivisibles? Were you in last year’s Parade? Let us know! There are all kinds of ways you can help out and we want to start planning early.
— Congress is back in session. The list is growing long for what we need to pressure them to do. Do your Congressmen/women know how you feel about the War in Iran? Have you told them “No more $$ for ICE”? Have you let them know that they need to stop this President from doing more harm and Impeach him? It is not hard to make a call to their Congressional office and register your view. Their staffers will mark each call on a tally sheet, Pro or Con, for each issue. And call again the next day. The more calls, the more influence it will have. No need to go into a long discourse on why you feel that way. Do you use the 5 Calls App? Oh, my! So easy. Get the app (5 stars), enter your zip code, choose a topic. It gives you your representative, and even a short script if you want to use it, click on the rep or senator and it dials them up. Don’t like to talk to someone on the phone? Call after hours and leave a message. Just as good. You can find out more about it at wwww.5calls.org.
It is indeed going to be a busy spring/summer.
Cheers,
Marilyn Lagrow
Indivisible Champlain Islands
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